How to Clean Up Your Online Rep

You've got a killer resume and aced the interview, but according to a new survey, your future boss is judging you on your Google search results, too. Here's how to make sure that what's on the Web won't come back to bite you in the butt.

Early this summer, Katie Couric delivered the commencement address at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her advice to graduates? "Clean up your Facebook page." Okay, so those words aren't exactly change-your-life inspiring, but she makes a (very) important point. According to a recent survey of HR professionals, 79 percent of employers review online information about job applicants—and 70 percent say they've rejected a candidate based on stuff they've found. Yikes. And get this: Only 7 percent of job seekers thought their online rep affected their job search. We asked a top career expert for tips on how you can take control of your online info, so you can get the job you deserve.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Go Private

You already know you should de-tag any unflattering pics of you on Facebook—that means any that show you drinking excessively, dancing on top of bars…pretty much any photo you wouldn't print out and show to your boss in real life. But you also need to make sure you've set your profile privacy settings to "Friends Only" (the other options are "Friends of Friends," "Friends and Networks," and "Everyone"). This minimizes the chances that a potential employer (or your current boss) can take a peek at your profile. The same applies to Twitter—make those tweets for your followers' eyes only by going to "Settings" and clicking on "Protect my updates."

More From Cosmopolitan

Still, you're not totally in the clear. A Facebook status update or photo upload still can pop up on an employer's news feed, if they're friends with someone in your network who comments on your post. And with Twitter, any of your followers can retweet what you say, broadcasting it to a whole new network of people you have no control over. That's why it's smart to never post anything you wouldn't be totally comfortable with a higher-up seeing...because there's always a chance that they will.

Know What's Being Said About You

It's pretty much a given that a potential employer may Google you, so it's crucial that you search for your own name to see what they're judging. Before you do, be sure to log out of your gmail account if you have one (on the Google homepage, click "sign out" on the top right hand corner). Since Google keeps track of what you click, your results will be different than what an employer sees. By signing out, your results will appear as they would to a stranger who searches your name. Next, you'll want to create a Google alert for your name to keep tabs via e-mail on any new results that may pop up. You can do this by signing back in and clicking "Settings" in the upper right hand corner of the Google homepage, and then selecting "Google Account Settings." Next, click on "Alerts" under "My Products" to create one for you. Just type in your name with quotation marks, select how often you want to receive the notifications, and you're done.

Bury the Bad Stuff…

Okay, so when you Googled yourself, you probably saw a link or two that you weren't exactly thrilled about. And unfortunately, it can be difficult to get them removed. (You have to ask the Webmaster of the specific site, not Google, to delete the info—and since the site likely owns the content, they get the final say. That said, it's always worth a shot!) For an even more proactive approach, you can hide those search results by creating new stuff that shows up first in a search. The easiest way to do that is to register for your own Website, like www.janedoe.com, or sign up for a blog on Wordpress or LiveJournal that has your name in the URL. Almost always your site will show up first in a search, pushing anything negative down the list. You can also take advantage of social networking sites like LinkedIn, Flickr, and Vimeo, since their pages rank high in Google and will be at the top of search results of your name. Simply open an account, input the bare minimum amount of info, and set it so that it can be publicly searched—you don't have to actively use the site.

…And Pump Up the Good.

When employers search for your name, they're not just playing online cops—they also want to see evidence that you're the kind of employee that would be the right fit for their company. So while you don't have to actively use the personal webpage or LinkedIn profile you created to bury content, those sites are an awesome opportunity to show off what you've got. Fill in your LinkedIn profile with details from your resume, publish photos of your hiking trip to Flickr, or post videos from a recent 5K you ran to Vimeo—all of these things let an employer see you as the well-rounded, impressive job candidate they can't pass up.

Source: Alexandra Levit, career expert and author of New Job, New You and MillennialTweet.